A Champion's Soul
by Ranuu
Summary: A dark soul known as the Game Maker has captured heroes from all times and dimensions. In the world they now live in, the heroes must fight to survive. But how many frienships will be broken because of these duels... to the death?
1. Prologue

**-:.A Champion's Soul.:-**

_A Super Smash Brothers: Melee fanfiction by Ranuu_

Prologue

"Got him, Falco?" Fox McCloud was aggravated. So far, the day wasn't going anywhere near how he'd been planning it. No, Fox had wanted to have a quiet day on the Great Fox chilling with Slippy, Peppy, Falco, Krystal, and ROB 64, but Wolf and his damn mercenary team just _had_ to show up.

Why had they signed up with Andross? So many years ago, Fox could remember Wolf O'Donnel and himself only being in a more-friendly-than-not rivalry. But since the evil wizard had signed them on to kill the Star Fox team, the mercenaries had done everything in their power to accomplish that objective. And Fox couldn't tell his team to hold back in trying to defeat them.

"No, Fox, Powalksi is still alive and kicking... though I'd absolutely _love_ to take him out. Would you like to keep chatting, or would you rather give me a hand?" Out of the window to his left, the commander of the Star Fox team saw his avian ally's Arwing go vertical, trying to shake Leon Powalski off, then turning his ship downward and plummeting. The move would have been excellent on a planet where the gravity would have caused him to stall out, but in space, it looked a bit... overdone.

"I'd be happy to, but I've got a fish of my own to fry. Fox out." As he said the last comment, the vulpine commander turned his craft upside down, and pulled back on the flight stick. The movement brough his Arwing back to what he perceived as right side up, and he was facing the oncoming Wolfen, with Wolf O'Donnel himself inside.

"Gotcha," Fox said to himself, a bit of a cocky grin forming on his face as he fired a couple rounds of blaster bolts at the other ship. They raked along the hull, but didn't do any serious damage, and Wolf passed right over him, already in a turn that would bring him around to Fox's right. "Just a bit more, and you're done."

Slippy was surely somewhere out there, trying to get away from Panther... poor frog. He was a much better technician than fighter pilot, and was only in this line of work because he had to be. Peppy was long since retired, and so it was probably good that Oikonny and Pigma had left Star Wolf... it would have been unfortunate for the odds to be three for Star Fox, and five for Star Wolf.

"Fox, I'm lining myself up for a shot," Falco's voice suddenly broke in through where quiet had been only a moment before. "Are we sure we want to get rid of them once and for all?"

"Shoot to kill, Falco. They're not taking mercy on us, and if we're ever to fully kill Andross, these guys will have to be out of the way. I know how you feel though..." Falco had been in a rivalry with Leon that was very similar to Fox's own rivalry with Wolf.

"It's not that I'm all sappy over this guy, he's a jerk, but it leaves a big hole in our adversaries. I don't know what I'd do with all my time. But alright, I'll take the shot. Falco out."

"Fox out."

Suddenly, the alarm warning him of a lock-on went off, and Fox instinctively did a barrel roll, flying the ship off to the starboard side. When it didn't stop, he shot left, weaving back and forth, trying to shake whoever had a missile on him. Suddenly, it stopped anyway, and Fox checked the screen on his dashboard that was connected with the rear camera. The end of an explosion was there.

"Leon Powalski has been taken out." Falco's voice almost had a somber tone to it, but he didn't let his guard down. Doing another 180, the avian went quiet for a moment, then spoke again, his voice covered in static because of the radio frequency. "According to my radar, Wolf is at one o'clock for you."

And indeed, he was. The wolf had been shaken off a bit by Fox's sudden weave, but was coming around again. "Too bad for him," Fox replied. Turning slightly, he pointed his nose at the Wolfen ship, and waited for his missile to lock on. With a slight beeping sound, it told him everything was set, and the fox said one final goodbye. "It's been nice knowing ya, O'Donnel."

The button was pressed, and the missile was released. As soon as Wolf's ship went up in flames, however, the world around Fox went black. "What the hell?"

His headset didn't return any voices to him, though, and after a moment, the fox threw it down on the ground. "Piece of crap." Wait... ground? Where was he?

Turning to look, Fox saw Falco standing only a few feet away. "Falco! Where's Slippy? The Great Fox? Why aren't we in our Arwings anymore?"

The blue avian turned to look at his partner, and clicked his beak irritably. "How the hell am I supposed to know that? Everything went black as soon as O'Donnel's ship blew up. Obviously we're not dead, because one of us would have seen the other die first. We were far enough from each other for that to be assured."

"True... but then, where are we?" Fox had no idea... he turned to look around, and could see nothing... until the voice came.

"A great battle, boys." The voice that spoke up wasn't one Fox had heard before. It was deep, malicious... and very subtle. "You proved yourselves to be great warriors who know what to do to get the job done."

"Where's Slippy?!" Falco more or less demanded an answer, and before Fox could even form the question in his mind. Why was Falco concerned about the weakest member of the flight squad? Usually, he'd be demanding information instead.

"Dead. Panther Caluroso shot him down only a moment before I transported the two of you here. Your friend's killer will no doubt be taking up the Star Wolf command for himself. But that's not the reason you both are here. For your valor and strength, I have deemed you worthy of passing into my challenge."

The voice had spoken as if they should know what challenge this was... but Fox sure as hell didn't know. "What challenge is this?"

"Heroes from all across the timeline and universe have been sucked into an alternate dimension to participate. I use my magic to bend time so that everyone has arrived within days of each other, even if thousands of years have passed between the disappearances. And you'll all be the age you were when you left. Good luck, Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi... you'll need it."

Just as suddenly as they'd arrived in the black nothingness, the pair were pulled back out, onto the floor of a room that looked to be in the same time as they were used to... but it seemed empty. "Fox?" Falco questioned, looking to the doors on all four sides. "How are we supposed to know which way to go?"


	2. Chapter 1: Sheik's Discovery

**-:.A Champion's Soul.:-**

_Chapter One: Sheik's Discovery_

_And so it has been, for a very long time. Over the last few centuries, heroes have suddenly and mysteriously vanished after epic battles, never to be seen again. This dates back to times when records were kept on paper (or parchment, as it happens), and extends to a time when those same records could be recorded by a computer hooked to a person's mind. Nobody has ever come forth in telling why they've been taken, or _where_, but it is suspected that they aren't dead... just on a different plane than the rest of us._

Those fighters have all been addressed by the Game Master, a dark and mysterious entity that has yet to reveal a body. He -the gender can only be speculated, since neither has been specified- informs them that they have won a crucial victory in the eyes of the world, and that they have been selected for his game. Currently, there are twenty-three competitors in this... alternate dimension... and they don't know about each other beyond the small groups they've formed.

All the fighters could possibly know was that they found themselves in a mansion larger than anything they'd ever seen before. It was impossibly large... and even after a day of exploration, Sheik's group hadn't found a single person. All they'd accomplished was finding some sort of bedroom. It had since formed into a base of sorts.

Inside that bedroom, three people slept. Another -lockable- room off to the side now contained a bed as well, since the sleeper didn't want to wake up to any surprises. This group consisted of two smaller groups who had met upon arriving. The first consisted of Link and Zelda, from the distant past, and a land called Hyrule. The second group was made up of two warriors from a much more distant land... their names were Marth and Roy. They were both very good strategists, and swordfighters at that. Supposedly, Roy was the prince of one nation, while Marth had been the leader of another.

It didn't matter where they were from, though. Sheik and Link had found the pair moments after they had arrived in this strange world, and found that neither of their new acquaintances had an idea of where they were either. Even worse... the Game Master had come to them too.

So that was what Sheik was doing out right now. He ran along the halls, footsteps silent, in search of other people who might have been transported to this place. The mansion was so _odd_... with walls painted gold, and floor the same color. Actually... it wasn't this color in the wing they were staying in, which was a mixture of blues and greens. This had the appearance of some reception wing of the home. Rooms that he ran through contained all sorts of technology, all of them things he'd never seen before. Big, glass rectangles surrounded by what appeared to be wood... fluffy things that were large and seemed to be places to sit or lie down.

The doors, in the rooms that had them, would actually open without a sound or control. All Sheik had to do was approach it, and it would slide into the ground. The movement had made for a few scares when he and Link had first arrived, but already the Sheikah had gotten used to it.

Another room, which begged for him to look around, and then Sheik was off again. So far, he'd seen nobody, and there wasn't a sign of life anywhere. Surely Marth, Roy, Link, and himself weren't the only ones here... that wouldn't be much fun for the Game Master. Putting four people in his sick little game like this... where was the fun in that? No, the man had sounded arrogant... cocky. He would probably have many people in the contest, but the building was so large, they wouldn't find everybody else.

That is... until Sheik entered the next room. As soon as the door was down and he was inside, the Sheikah had to duck quickly... and the energy blast still missed his head by only inches. "Wait, wait! I'm not your enemy!" Sheik could hear the light strain in his muffled voice, and winced. The shot had unnerved him, especially the manner in which it was delivered. In Hyrule, they didn't have anybody capable of creating something that could do something like that.

Sheik realized, though, that whatever had shot at him didn't regard him as a threat anyway. Otherwise, it probably would have shot again... and he'd be dead. Raising his covered head lightly, the Sheikah glanced across the room at his attacker, and gasped.

A giant, orange suit of armor, with odd curves and balled parts, stood in front of him, tall and threatening. Besides the orange, there was red, and a green visor, and a silver extension on the being's right arm. It had a smoking hole where -Sheik assumed- the energy bolt had come from. As it stood straight up, a muffled, almost electric voice emitted from it. "You are dressed oddly, and I thought you to be a Space Pirate. Now, though, I see that you are not. My apologies."

"It's alright..." Sheik trailed off as the large, armored creature took off its helmet, and turned out to be a female. A female with long blonde hair... very odd. "Ah, eh... my name is Sheik. I was looking for other people that the Game Master might have sucked into his game. There are others back the way I came... mind coming with me?"

"Not at all," said the heavily armored woman. "My name is Samus Aran, by the way. After I defeated the Mother Brain and Ridley for the final time, everything went dark, and a voice told me that I had been selected for this game. I've seen nothing yet that suggests this is a game of any sort."

"Yes. The people back at my camp... we've seen nothing, and have been here for nearly a day now. Follow me, and I'll take you to our camp. I'm sure they'd all like to meet you."

Once Samus had gathered up the few things she'd been traveling with, the two started walking back. Sheik told her why he was dressed the way he was, and explained some other customs of the Sheikah, then told her of Hyrule. She, in return, told of Brinstar, and some of the other odd places where she was from. How enemies could be remade with the advanced technology... and missiles. Explosive weapons that could go great distances and cause something to be completely decimated... fascinating.

"Now, be warned... the men inside of the room are not the most civilized of people. They are battle-hardened warriors from a time that, in your world, is long past." Sheik's warning had been said just before they entered the room. Samus had only nodded and lodged her helmet between one arm and the side of her armor.

Once they entered, the first thing the pair saw was Link walking the other way. At the sound of the door opening, he turned quickly, putting his hand on the Master Sword's sheath, but quickly relaxed at seeing it was Sheik. "Hey... who's your friend?"

The Hero of Time had become a lot more tense since showing up here. He'd almost attacked Marth and Roy when they first met, and had only stopped when the two declared themselves friends and held their hands away from their swords. In that instance, the other duo had been the cautious ones, but Link was slowly calming down.

"This is Samus Aran... she's another contestant in this game, it would seem." Sheik walked in and yawned, stretching a little. "I'll probably go out again soon to look for more people, but I need to rest for a moment."

"You've been out there too much... I'm not sure you've been sleeping, Sheik. Are you sure that your almighty Sheikah powers are able to withstand a sleepless night?" Marth's voice suddenly cut through the air, extremely distinct in its odd, unplaceable accent. Well, at least Sheik couldn't place it.

"I'm fine, Marth, but I thank you for your concern. A Sheikah can run for 48 hours with only an hour of meditation per day. After that, yes, we do need sleep, but our endurance is above that of a normal human. Now, you three should introduce yourself to our new roommate." Sheik walked over to a bed in the corner -Link's bed- and sat on it, closing his eyes and starting a breathing routine.

With a cleared mind, he could feel the alter-ego there, in the back, radiating feminine feelings through his being. Zelda... she had created this personality so that she could hide from Ganondorf, but when both had been sucked into the Game Master's plot, she had chosen to hide there as Sheik. Not only did he fit in better with Link, she didn't want her frailty to get in the way of their survival. Sheik was much more agile and strong, and was therefore a much better addition to the group.

How Link had forgotten the secret -that Zelda and Sheik were truthfully one person- they'd never guess. They, because Sheik and Zelda were, in essence, two different people sharing the same body, but not the same form. Link, though, had surely seen when the Sheikah switched back to his -her- original form... the princess. It had been in the Temple of Time, right in front of his face.

Deciding to spare it no more thought, Sheik tuned out the vexing little puzzle in his mind, and instead started listening to what was going on around him. Samus had gone and found a bed, and was taking off her armor. Roy had come in as well, voice just a little higher than Marth's. "You're from the future, you say?"

"I suppose, seeing what you all fight with," was Samus's reply. "We travel between planets, and people have set up different businesses on each. For instance, if a certain element can be found only on one planet, there may be a mining and exporting service there. Another planet may be rich in iron ore, and weapons can be made there, and shipped out to nations that love war. But, with all the space and freedom, there's a lot of corruption."

"I can see how that would happen," was the red-headed warrior's reply. He had introduced himself as a battle strategist and warrior, as well as a prince, so he would probably understand certain economical terms that eluded the Hylians. Well... not Zelda, but Sheik and Link. "Why do you wear so much armor?"

"Simple, I'm a bounty hunter. If someone's done something wrong, and a price is put on his head, I'm there to fix the problem. It brings in some good money, but at the same time is extremely dangerous. This armor is not only in complete control of my well-being, but also stores my weapons and can morph into different forms I'd never fit in without it." She had finished taking it off, or so Sheik guessed, as the rustling and clanking sound had stopped.

"Well," Link chimed in, "There's obviously a lot of space for other things in there, judging by your size." Zelda's mind in Sheik's subconscious suddenly let off a bit of indignity and jealousy, but the Sheikan alter-ego stifled it and went on with his meditation. This was no time to be giving away their secret, especially over a little 'knight-in-shining-armor' crush. He'd saved Zelda's life, true, but that didn't mean they were 'meant to be'.

"No modesty in your time, I see," Marth chuckled, and Roy mirrored it. If only the meditation didn't require his eyes to be completely closed, Sheik would have seen what they were talking about. He wasn't interested or anything, seeing as he was really part of Zelda, a woman, but the comment had piqued curiosity. Still, though, he didn't look.

"Oh, this? It's a stealth suit... called the Zero Suit by some. It's tight-fitting, but- why are you red, Link?"

Before anyone could answer, though, another voice came in... one that all five of them knew well. "Hello, players of my little game..."

Sheik's eyes shot open, only to find that nothing was different. Samus was standing near the bed she'd chosen in a very tight-fitting blue suit, and Link's face was very red, but they'd all gone quiet, and were all looking around. "You aren't able to see me, but I can see all of you. Congratulations on making it to my game, first of all. Secondly, since you're all here now, I'll tell you what the game is."

A moment of silence came now, obviously to raise tension, and then he continued. "You'll all be fighting each other... to the death. It's a tournament, this game, and the winner will be able to go home to his or her family with the knowledge that he or she is the greatest fighter to ever live. Not only that, the winner will also have a vast fortune in whatever his home currency is, and the chance to fight me.

"Please," the voice continued, "know this. The first match starts now. The fighters will be warped from wherever they are, so don't try to hide, and nobody else will know the results until the winner returns. Roy, son of Eliwood, of Pherae, and Ness of Onett, prepare to battle."

All eyes in the room shot to Roy, whose face whitened a bit, and he disappeared to nowhere. "This... isn't good," was all that Sheik could say.


	3. Chapter 2: Roy vs Ness

**Author's Note:**_To quell the argument, I'm gonna say that I'm on the side of the debate that says Sheik is a male. I quote wikipedia, which has this to say: "It has also been argued that Sheik's apparent build may simply be concealed armor Zelda wears over her torso, however, this would detract from Sheik's apparent flexibility, suggesting the form is genuine. It should be noted however that when Link encounters Princess Ruto in the Water Temple in Ocarina of Time she asks Link to thank Sheik for saving her and refers to Sheik as "him"."_

_This can be found by going to wikipedia and typing Sheik in the search bar, then going to the second result (sorry, it won't let me post links).  
_

**-:.A Champion's Soul.:-**

_Battle One: ___Roy vs. Ness

Roy's face had indeed whitened a bit out of fear as the room went black around him. He didn't want to fight, he was a commander! He was the prince of a strong nation in a militaristic world, and therefore raised in the art of combat, but didn't _like_ fighting. Especially when the duel would have no ending other than death for one or the other.

Besides, he thought, seeing some of the things in Samus's suit, he was in far over his head here. Ness of Onett... it sounded as foreign a name as Samus. What if his opponent was a large person in a giant suit of armor, like the bounty hunter he'd just left in the room? As these thoughts ran through the boy's head, he loosened the sword in his sheath. Could the Sword of Seals really stand up against anything? Putting a determined face on, despite the turmoil he felt in his stomach, Roy watched as the battlefied swept outward, coloring itself in.

The first thing the warrior noticed was that they were on a large platform, suspended indefinitely far in the air. Around them, he could only see black, though bits of light showed the color was actually storm clouds. A path on this platform extended across the center, gray while the mesh around it was... purple. And then he saw his opponent.

His first feeling was one of shock. It wasn't a giant alien in a suit of armor he was looking at, but a little kid in a shirt, pants that were cut at the knee and made of what seemed to be a durable material. On the boy's back was some sort of pack that hooked around his shoulders, and there was a red... hat of some sort on his head.

"You're... _You're_ Ness of Onett?" was his immediate reaction. Immediately afterward, though, Roy regretted it and went to correct himself, holding his hands up (and thereby taking one from his sword hilt. "I apologize, I don't mean to offend. I just didn't expect to be fighting a child... especially to the death."

"You'll find out that I'm not just a weak little kid, dude." And with that, Ness charged him, pulling what looked like a long, very thick wooden stick out of the pack as he did so. Roy drew his sword, ready to just block a strike. He wouldn't strike the kid unless his own life depended on it. Hopefully, the boy would just surrender eventually, and they could go back.

Ness, however, stopped about three feet away, and thrust one hand at Roy, yelling "PK Fire!" in the process. That alone wouldn't have done much, as he didn't _quite_ reach the prince with such a short arm length, but it was the after effect that shattered the slightly smug feeling Roy had. A fireball shot from the boy's hand, and if it hadn't been for Roy's reflexes, he would have been enveloped, and probably killed... by this KID.

Obviously, the strategist had made a major error, and it needed quick correcting. Just because his opponent was a boy with a stick didn't mean he was facing a weak person. The Game Master had chosen _heroes_ from all ages, not just children. The boy had done something amazingly difficult... won some _key_ battle in the history of the world. How stupid to forget that!

Roy launched himself over the child and turned quickly, facing him and vowing not to underestimate him again. From this point on, this Ness was to be considered a top-priority enemy. Sinking into a better stance to fight, Roy readied his blade and glared at the boy. "You caught me off guard, I'll admit that, but you ruined your surprise there."

"I wasn't trying to get you with a surprise attack," the kid said as he turned around, "I was showing you what I can really do!" And with that, he jumped forward, swinging the thick stick at Roy, who had to jump again. This time, however, he swung the sword at the stick, and cracked it in half. Taking into consideration that the Sword of Seals was a heavy weapon, the old wooden stick cracked right in half.

Ness gasped in shock and jumped backward. Upon landing, he glared at Roy and exclaimed "You broke my bat!"

"'The best way to disable an opponent is to get rid of his weapon.'" Of course, the saying was one of the most basic lessons a swordsman could learn, but it didn't mean Roy would be letting his guard down; he couldn't afford to underestimate this boy again.

The next move only served to prove him right. Lowering his eyebrows to where he was glaring at Roy, Ness almost _mumbled_ another magical phrase. "PK Thunder..."

From the top of the boy's head, a ball of what looked like a ball of electricity appeared. Roy, knowing nothing _about_ electricity, blinked in a surprised manner at the pretty light. It quickly made its way to the prince, and caught him before he was able to dodge out of the way.

This ball didn't just induce a shock, it was a full-scale electrocution. As it hit him, Roy suddenly felt as if he couldn't move, as if he was paralyzed, and also felt an excruciating pain pass through his body. Then, after what seemed like forever, but was surely only a fraction of a second, he noticed that he was flying backwards along the platform.

This sensation wasn't too bad -flying was fun, after all, and he was putting distance between himself and the boy- until Roy remembered that the platform was relatively small, and there was an indefinite fall just beyond the edge. Eyes widening in a flash of panic, the prince started forcing his body to flip backwards, hoping to land on the edge. But that didn't happen...

The next moment passed in slow motion for Roy. As the older boy made it to the position where he could look downward, he saw the edge of the platform pass out of his vision. At the same time, the clouds around broke to reveal that the platform was moving at an extremely high speed. Now Roy could see that, a vast distance below, miles upon miles, the ground sped past.

As he began his _downward_ descent, the older boy thrust with his sword, and by some miracle got it stuck in the side. Naturally, the sword wouldn't be able to stick there for long with his weight, but it should stay long enough for the quick move he planned. Roy used the energy of his fall -and the gravity involved in it- to cause the sword to bend ever so slightly. The Sword of Seals wouldn't break, and instead pulled in the other direction, launching Roy back onto the platform.

Before the prince could recollect his sword, though, he saw Ness charging at him again. The boy was relentless! Making a last minute jump, Roy vaulted himself over Ness and, by some sort of instinct, pushed out with the greatest force he could muster. What was the only problem with this? He had pressed himself off of Ness.

The push had caused the lighter boy to lose his balance and stumble over the very same edge that had threatened Roy a moment before. This wasn't how it was going to end for him though, one could tell. Before he'd fallen very far, the psychic released another electricity bold and, instead of trying to hit Roy with it, hit himself in the back. The attack caused him to turn into some sort of missile, shooting forward and just _barely_ missing the edge. Millimeters, to be sure. Slowly, the boy fell backward again, letting out a panicked scream as he also saw the ground below.

"Congratulations, Roy," a voice said in the prince's head. "You have vanquished your enemy and will now return to your friends. You will find your lost sword in your sheath when you arrive." And, with that, the world went black again.


	4. Chapter 3: Cause and Effect

_A.N.: Thanks guys, for the reviews xP I love reading them, and they keep me working on my stories. I mean, really, if nobody ever reviewed, then I wouldn't know they were reading, and I'd have no reason to put my stories up on the internet anymore. Anyway, on to business. It took so long for me to update because I lost my bracket for the tournament here, and didn't know who to start with next xD; So yeah, I finally just rewrote it, and have been doing other things with it since, mainly wondering who's p.o.v. this chapter should be from._

_Chris: Ha! My favorite reviewer speaks again. I know what you mean... this certainly should have been hard to do, and I'm surprised it's working out so well thus far. We'll have to see how it goes._

_Skyler: Sorry I let you down on the date of update, but I'm still working! I killed Ness because, well, I've never played Earthbound and know nothing about the character. That's actually why I'm getting rid of these first few characters... no idea what they should act like, and I don't want them to progress further into the plot. Keep reviewing though, and thanks for reading!_

**:.-A Champion's Soul-.:**

_Chapter Three_

When the light was gone, Roy was back in the middle of the room, with Link, Samus, and Marth sitting there staring at him. Grinning sheepishly and scratching the back of his neck, the prince waved with his other hand. "I guess I won, guys."

"Congratulations!" Marth stood up, walked over to Roy, and patted him on the back, laughing. "We had the utmost faith in you, of course. Chosen on the first battle, the brilliant fighter and tactician made it back without a scratch on him.

"Well," Marth stumbled, taking a black flake of something-or-other off of Roy's collar. "A little charred, and your hair is on end, but no cuts or scratches."

"Did you fight a mage?" Link leaned forward, putting his hands on his knees and giving the prince an inquisitive glance. That would explain the electrical wounds, and how there was no blood on the other boy.

"I'm... not sure," Roy responded. "He seemed like a kid, and used a thick, cyllindrical piece of wood to swing at me. When he couldn't hit me, and I broke the piece of wood, he got mad and tried to start me on fire, then electrocuted me. Because of his power, I'm not really all that sure that he was a child... no child from our world," he looked at Marth, "could possibly command that much power."

"The wooden thing you're describing sounds like a baseball bat," Samus interjected. "It was used in a popular game hundreds of years before my time. One would throw a ball, and another would hold a bat like that, and try to hit the ball as far as possible." 

"That makes sense," Roy answered. "See, he called it a bat when I cut it in half with the Sword of Seals - the sword!" Suddenly, the boy panicked, and his hand shot to the hilt at his side. He could remember the sword lodged into the side of the course when he disappeared to come back, but, somehow, it was in the hilt now, safely at his side. "Anyway... let me rest, the fight took a lot of jumping around and swinging, and I am tired."

Naturally, everyone else had heard the names called at the start of the match, and that had alerted some teams to the fact that there were more residents of this plane than themselves. One such group consisted of a lightly-formed alliance of heroes who had never met each other before the mansion. Captain Falcon, Popo, Nana, and Kirby lounged on couches around one of the guest rooms. The children had their coats on, though it must have been over 100 degrees inside them; for some reason, the rooms were all set at a perfect temperature.

The couches were set facing each other, so that visitors could sit and chat with each other, and ornate paintings of various landscapes adorned the walls. The seats themselves were satin cushions on top of what seemed to be wrought _gold_, made into all sorts of ornate patterns that, while proving to be wonderful to look at, were also practical.

"So," Captain Falcon said in a low voice to Kirby, who was sitting on a couch near his, "do you know why those little eskimoes won't take off their coats?"

"No idea, actually..." Kirby replied, chancing a look at them. The two were at the opposite side of the room, mallets at the ready in case someone came near them. When they had first met, Captain Falcon had tried to introduce himself to the children, but while striking a pose, he scared them and, thinking he was attacking, they hit him with an ice block that froze him in place for a minute. "Why don't you try going and talking to them again? I'm sure they're used to you by now."

"Hell no! Last time I tried, I got my butt kicked by those midgets. I don't want to know what would happen this time. You go talk to them... you're their size."

"Yeah," Kirby glared at the much taller man, "and I'm also their strength, weakling. Maybe I should show you my most powerful attack right now."

"Oh, come on, I bet you completely suck," Captain Falcon started laughing at the pink balloon.

"You don't know the half of it," was the puffball's response.

Nana whispered to Popo, still watching the pink ball and the tall, scary man. "Why are they staring at us, brother?"

"I don't know," he responded, hefting the mallet in his hands to make sure he could get it up quick enough if he needed to. "But we need to be ready to fight if they attack again."

When Popo and Nana had arrived in this strange, warm world, they had been trying to find their way around, as anyone would. Suddenly, this large, hulking giant was in front of them, arms extended to attack. With the silent teamwork that was their defining attribute, the brother and sister had quickly surrounded him and used their Arctic Wind technique, freezing him where he stood.

After freezing him, the two had run through the halls until finding this room. There was only one door... the way they had come. It wouldn't be hard to defend against attackers, and so they had chosen to stay. Later, the large, scary man had shown up again, and, after looking at them, had went to the opposite side of the room and sat, looking at them as if he was afraid of coming near.

And then, later, the moving, pink ball came in, looking at each side, and then making his way over to the scary man. That meant he was evil, of course. Nana didn't expect to be friends with them while she was here. But there were others that they surely _could_ be friends with, like this Ness of Onett and Roy guy. Well, whichever came back from wherever they were going, anyway. The scary voice had said that only one would return.

Hefting her own mallet menacingly, the girl nodded to her brother and responded in a low tone. "Yes... but they have no idea what we can do, and we've seen what the stupid, big man can do. They won't defeat us."

"But, Nana," Popo said, giving her a serious glance, "what about the voice? He called out names that weren't them... there are others here. What about them? What if we're not all enemies?"

"Idiot," Nana responded. "If they weren't enemies, then why would the scary man attack us like he did?"

"You're right..."

_His_ room was lined up and down the walls with speakers, monitors, and keyboards of different types and colors, so he could tell them apart. Each of the monitors showed one of the thousands of rooms in the mansion. There were so many rooms, in fact, that three out of the four walls had as many screens on them as he could fit.

The thing was, _he_ was in a rolly-chair, one of the best money could buy. Or, rather, one of the best he could program into this alternate realm. That's right, this entire complex was one giant computer program, and he was calling the shots. Nothing could get by the might Game Master in his world.

However, to make the entire thing more interesting, he had barricaded himself into what he called the control room, right in the center of the sprawling complex of numbers and codes. Sure, it would have only taken a couple more lines of code to put his room in a completely different location, but that wouldn't have been fun. Now, he could live off of the suspense that they _might_ find him. Not before he could get rid of them, of course, but it was still something interesting to think about when things got boring.

Most of the teams had started off well enough, and had made alliances already. Of course, most hadn't known that there were twenty four, and one less now that Ness was dead. He had never liked Onett much anyway.

Pulling a little figurine out of one of his desk drawers, the Game Master placed it on a table in the middle of the room. There Ness stood in a heroic pose, with a little, mahogany disk underneath him. "Too bad, kid," the Game Master said. "You coulda gone far if you weren't an idiot."

Suddenly, the shadowy figure realized that it was time for another match. Rolling his chair across the room, he stopped by a microphone, and pressed a button next to it. Mustering up his most menacing voice, the master of so many people's fates spoke into the apparatus. "The last match was amusing. I would hope that the rest of you are able to live up to the example that Roy set. Actually, I doubt that any of you could. But, nevertheless, it is time for another match. This time, it will be Mewtwo from Kanto and the Ice Climbers, Popo and Nana. As with last time, the loser won't be known to the rest of you until the winner appears. Good luck..."


End file.
